2017 NCAA Wrestling Division I Preview: 184 Pounds

We’re breaking down every weight class at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship set for next week in St. Louis. We usually start our previews at 125, but this time around we thought we’d give the big fellas the first look and work our way down. We’ll start with some facts for reference, break down who can win the weight, who will contend for All-American honors, how this weight will effect the team race, and end with a little analysis for those of you participating in fantasy wrestling contests. 285 and 197 went up over the weekend so check them out too. Enjoy and check back later for much more!

184

Conference Champions

ACC – Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech)

Big 10 – Sam Brooks (Iowa)

Big 12 - Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State)

EIWA – Gabe Dean (Cornell)

EWL – Dakota Geer (Edinboro)

MAC – Jack Dechow (Old Dominion)

Pac-12 – Zach Nevills (Stanford)

SoCon – Bryce Carr (Chattanooga)

Performance by Seed, Last 10 Years (13-16 seed started in 2014)

1: 10 AAs, 8 finalists, 5 champions

2: 9 AAs, 3 finalists, 2 champions

3: 9 AAs, 2 finalists

4: 6 AAs, 1 finalist, 1 champion

5: 3 AAs

6: 8 AAs, 3 finalists, 1 champion

7: 9 AAs, 2 finalists

8: 2 AAs

9: 5 AAs, 1 finalist, 1 champion

10: 3 AAs

11: 3 AAs

12: 5 AAs

13: 3 AAs

14: 1 AA

15: 0 AAs

16: 1 AA

US: 3 AAs

Returning All-Americans

Gabe Dean (Cornell) – Champion in 2016, Champion in 2015, 3rd in 2014

TJ Dudley (Nebraska) - 2nd in 2016, 8th in 2015

Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) - 4th in 2016

Sam Brooks (Iowa) - 8th in 2016

Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) - 4th in 2014

Myles Martin (Ohio State) – Champion in 2016 at 174

Bo Nickal (Penn State) - 2nd in 2016 at 174

Nathan Jackson (Indiana) - 5th in 2016 at 174

Who can win?

Two-time defending champion Gabe Dean (Cornell) is the undefeated top seed and a clear favorite to end his career as a three-time NCAA champion. However, he isn't as heavy a favorite as some in his position, one loss since the calendar turned to 2015 since avenged multiple times, might be. That is largely due to the two national finalists at 174 pounds from last season moving up to 184 and looking to challenge the Cornell senior. We've been following the potential clash of Dean and Bo Nickal (Penn State) since it became clear the Nittany Lion was moving up and the two would not meet in the regular season. That was set to be a battle of undefeated wrestlers on Saturday night until Myles Martin (Ohio State), who had not looked like a title contender this year, lived up to his Mr. March nickname, upsetting Nickal at the Big 10 tournament. It should be noted that Martin was summarily dismissed in the finals by Sam Brooks (Iowa), who he will have to deal with in the quarter-finals, but he at least proved himself dangerous to the title contenders. Brooks is a top four threat, but he has yet to show any sign that he can win the title which would probably mean beating Nickal and Dean back-to-back. This is Dean's weight until proven otherwise and while a Dean/Nickal final holds an incredible amount of intrigue, part of that intrigue is simply because we haven't seen it yet.

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